Apple to relaunch 8GB version of iPhone 4 in India as sales lag

KOLKATA: Apple is set to relaunch the 8GB version of the iPhone 4 in the Indian market after losing sales and market share in the middle segment to rival Samsung in the last quarter after pulling out the model as part of a global strategy.

The US company, pressing hard to raise its market share in India, will price the device at around 15,000 through buyback and EMI schemes compared with its old retail price of Rs 26,500, Apple's four top trade partners in India said requesting anonymity due to confidentiality clauses. The model launched three years ago has been succeeded by the 4S, 5, 5c and 5s, the last of which starts at Rs 53,500.

Since Apple stopped production of the iPhone 4 last August-September, the company is likely to source unsold inventory of the model from around the globe for the Indian market. However, this could not be independently verified.

"While there is still a latent demand for the iPhone 4 due to its attractive price in India, the model has lost favour in matured markets and hence it may not make sense for Apple to start fresh production since it follows economies of scale," said a senior executive at a top electronic retail chain.

An email sent to the Apple spokesperson at regional headquarters in London did not elicit any response until press time on Monday.

The company's decision to stop selling the 8GB iPhone 4 in the last quarter to push its latest devices helped the company gain value share but meant ceding ground in unit sales, with the 5c not reaching expected numbers and the company having no presence in the sub- 30,000 segment. "Apple's iPhone 4 8GB model used to rank amongst the top three selling models by unit sales and fight neck and neck with Samsung, but with its exit the company lost much ground," said a senior executive at a top electronic retail.

In his chain, which has more than a hundred stores, the iPhone4 used to account for almost 15-20% of sales compared with Samsung's 50% in the Rs15,000- Rs 20,000 segment, he said. Now Samsung has more than 70% share.

Apple's market share in the Indian smartphone market peaked to more than 4% in October-December 2012 and January-March 2013 before dwindling to 1.4% in October 2013, according to CMR data. Samsung's share, in contrast, rose to 42% from 33% in the same period.

Another senior executive with a leading cellphone retail chain said Apple's two distributors, Redington and Ingram Micro, have sounded the trade out about a big relaunch of the iPhone4 8GB model as early as next week so that the company can take advantage of a Republic Day sales bump.